Shifting Gears (TV series)


Shifting Gears is an American television sitcom created by Julie Thacker Scully and Mike Scully for ABC through 20th Television. The series stars Tim Allen, Kat Dennings, Seann William Scott, Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins, and Barrett Margolis. It premiered on ABC on January 8, 2025. In April 2025, ABC renewed the series for a second season which premiered on October 1, 2025.
WWW abc.com/show/0b64a2a5-a11...

Premise

Still mourning the death of his wife, a gruff widower who runs an auto restoration shop reluctantly takes in his estranged daughter, with his two grandchildren.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Recurring

  • Cynthia Quiles as Frankie
  • Jenna Elfman as Eve Drake, Riley's former boss
  • Lucas Neff as Jimmy, Riley's former husband
  • Nancy Travis as Charlotte Miller, Matt’s dater
  • Carson Fagerbakke as Amelie, Gabriel's new girlfriend

Guest stars

Production

A pilot episode was ordered in March 2024 made by 20th Television and written by Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully. The project was given a series order by ABC in July 2024. It is from the studio 20th Television and starring Tim Allen and Kat Dennings. Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully were involved in the pilot but left the project. Allen executive produces with Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Richard Baker, Rick Messina and pilot director John Pasquin. Michelle Nader joined as showrunner and executive producer in September 2024. Dennings is also a producer. Jim Patterson, Bob Daily and John Amodeo also executive produce.
Seann William Scott joined the cast of the series in October 2024. Also in the cast for the series are Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins and Barrett Margolis. In November 2024, Brenda Song was cast to guest star. In December 2024, Jenna Elfman joined the cast in a recurring role. In January 2025, Nancy Travis was cast in a guest star. In February 2025, Jay Leno joined the cast as a guest star. In August 2025, it was reported that Patricia Richardson, Richard Karn, and Debbe Dunning are set to appear as guest stars for the second season premiere episode while Lilly Singh is also set to guest star on an episode.
Shifting Gears is filmed at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. On April 3, 2025, ABC renewed the series for a second season. On September 5, 2025, ABC ordered three more episodes for the second season, increasing the total number of episodes for the season from ten to thirteen. On September 9, 2025, Gabriel Iglesias and Lori Greiner were cast to guest star as themselves. On October 6, 2025, it was announced that Mookie Betts would make a guest appearance on the October 8, 2025 episode. On December 9, 2025, it was reported that Luke Macfarlane was cast to guest star.

Release

Shifting Gears premiered on ABC on January 8, 2025. Its second season premiered on October 1, 2025. In Canada, the series aired on CTV Television Network. Shifting Gears is available for streaming on Hulu and Disney+, with each episode appearing the day after its broadcast premiere.

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 47% approval rating with an average rating of 3.3/10, based on 15 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Shifting Gears has a formidable pair of sitcom stars in Tim Allen and Kat Dennings, but flavorless characters and flat jokes keep their new comedic vehicle stuck in neutral." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 51 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Ratings

The premiere of Shifting Gears on January 8, 2025, set an audience record for ABC, amassing nearly 17 million multi-platform viewers in its first seven days across ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+, and digital platforms. This marks a 173% increase over its same-day audience of 6.2 million. The episode also garnered around 12.5 million viewers without counting linear encores, still up 101% from the same-day audience, making it ABC's strongest series debut since The Conners in 2018 and the broadcaster's most-watched streaming debut to date. Shifting Gears opened its 2025–26 season on ABC with 4.37 million viewers for its initial broadcast on October 1. After a week of cross-platform viewing, including streaming on Hulu, Disney+, and DVR playback, the series' audience grew to 7.57 million, a 73% increase. Its adults 18–49 rating rose from 0.35 to 1.17, equivalent to roughly 1.59 million viewers in that demographic. Approximately 42% of the total audience over five weeks came from streaming, with the majority of the adults 18–49 rating derived from digital platforms. The Season 2 premiere of Shifting Gears attracted 7.57 million viewers in its first week, surpassing ABC's Abbott Elementary, which drew 6.64 million viewers for its premiere.

Accolades

At the 5th Astra TV Awards, Tim Allen and Kat Dennings were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Comedy Series, respectively, while Shifting Gears was also nominated for Best Cast Ensemble in a Broadcast Network Comedy Series.